Biblical First Names: Our Top 20 for Girls and Boys

Biblical first names for girls

Anna, Eva or Hanna are probably the most popular girls’ first names that are taken from the Bible. But there are a multitude of other names for newborn girls that come from the Bible. These have been an integral part of many cultures for centuries.

1. Maria  is one of the most common female names in the Bible. It derives from the name “Miriam” and is also the origin of the names “Mia” or “Marie”. The mother of Jesus was also called Mary. 
2. Sophia means “wisdom”. However, the name is not used as a woman’s name in the Bible. However, the word has a high meaning in the Bible and is used very frequently there.
3. Hanna means something like “grace”, “loveliness” and “grace”.
4. Johanna is the longer form of the name “Hanna” and means something like “the Lord is gracious”.
5. Anna is the mother of Mary – the mother of Jesus. The name means something like “the gifted”.
6. Elisabeth means “my god is seven”. The number seven has an important meaning that represents abundance and perfection. 
7. Eve was the primal mother of all people. Therefore, the name means something like “the animated” or “the life-giving”.
8. Julia stands for “the shiny” or “the virgin”.
9. Strictly speaking, Rahel means “the mercy of God”.
10. Leah was one of the original mothers of the people of Israel. Her name means something like “the tired one”.
11. Rebecca means “the well-fed” and “the captivating” in the biblical sense.
12. Sara is an important name for the beginning of the Israeli people. Through her and Abraham begins a long family history of the Bible. The name means something like “the princess”.
13. Ruth  means “beauty” and “friendship”.
14. Susanne , on the other hand, means something like “the lily”.
15. Yael is a rather unusual first name of biblical origin and stands for “the climber”.
16. Magdalene appears frequently in the Bible. The names “Lena”, “Helena” and “Elena” are derived from this name. Translated, Magdalena means “the one who came from Magda”.
17. Lydia means “a person who comes from Lydia”.
18. Martha means something like “the lady” or “the mistress”.
19. Daniela means “God is my lord” in the biblical sense.
20. Literally translated, Abigail means something like “my father was happy”.

Biblical names for boys

There are also numerous boy names in the Bible. We encounter many of them every day. David is probably one of the best known among them.

1. David is one of the most famous kings in the Bible. David comes from a humble background and rises to become king. The name means something like “the beloved”.
2. Benjamin stands for “the lucky child” in the biblical sense. In France and the Netherlands in particular , the first name Benjamin is very popular.
3. Literally translated, Elijah means something like “my God is Yahweh”.
4. Johannes has many name derivations and abbreviations. This includes, for example, the name “Jan”. Literally translated, the name means “God is gracious”.
5. Jonas stands for “the peace-loving one” or “the dove”.
6. In the biblical sense, Markus  means “the tender” or “the lovely”.
7. Nathan  means “the gift”.
8. In the biblical translation, Paul  means “the little one”.
9. Like David, Samuel is a biblical king. The name means “heard by God”.
10. Jonathan is another biblical boy name and means “God gave”.
11. Daniel means “God is my judge”.
12. Andreas is a name that dates back to pre-Christian times and probably has Greek roots. The name is also known from the New Testament. The name means something like “the brave” or “the male”.
13. We know Gabriel from the Bible as one of the seven archangels. Gabriel brings Mary the good news that Jesus is about to be born. The name means something like “man of God” or “God is my hero”.
14. Raphael is also an archangel from the Old Testament and means something like “God has healed”.
15. Michael is also an archangel. Literally translated, the name means “who is God”.
16. Isaac  literally means “God smiles”.
17. Hosea  means “God saves” in the biblical sense.
18. Jacob means “God protects”.  
19. Luke stands  for “the one who came from Luke”. Luke was a biblical apostle. 
20. Noah means “consolation” in the biblical context.